Aaron Curtin, seen here in an earlier match, won in straight sets Thursday. (John Fisken photo)
“It was a wild day all around!”
Surviving a sketchy ferry schedule, a late arrival to its destination and several close matches, the Coupeville High School boys’ tennis squad escaped back to Whidbey, pizza in hand, with a tidy 5-2 win over Chimacum Thursday.
The second straight win for the Wolves, now 2-4 on the season, it left a huge smile on coach Ken Stange’s face.
Or maybe that was just the pizza.
“While we were on our way to the peninsula, we planned a victory dinner in advance,” Stange said. “Everyone kicked in five dollars so we could order Port Townsend’s best pizza.
“Big thanks go out to Ron and Sandra Bodamer, who picked up our order and had it waiting for us when we dashed onto the ferry,” he added. “The boys were loud and fun.
“What’s more, I didn’t even have to ask them to do a good job of cleaning up. I love those guys!”
Just getting across the water to play Chimacum, whose roster includes a lone PTHS player, was the toughest part of the day for Coupeville.
With the ferry system running only one-boat on the day, the Wolves were considerably late in arriving, forcing the teams to modify the normal two-out-of-three-sets format for several doubles matches.
With time running down and the ferry threatening to leave with the pizza, Coupeville went to tiebreakers to decide the final three doubles matches, winning two of them.
That capped a day that started with a stroll through the singles contests as all three Wolves (Aaron Curtin, Sebastian Davis and Kyle Bodamer) won in straight sets.
“Sebastian and Kyle were on and off the court in short order, while Aaron faced a pesky defensive tennis player in the top slot,” Stange said. “Aaron’s opponent just wouldn’t go away.
“He kept chasing down Aaron’s big shots, but Aaron was able to consistently outlast the top Cowboy.”
Coupeville is now off for a week, with Chimacum scheduled to travel to Whidbey for a rematch Friday, Oct. 10.
No word on whether they’ll bring pizza with them.
Complete results:
Varsity:
1st Singles — Aaron Curtin beat Dylan Glessing 6-3, 6-3
2nd Singles — Sebastian Davis beat Jonny Rogers 6-1, 6-2
3rd Singles — Kyle Bodamer beat Sean Miller 6-1, 6-1
1st Doubles — Joseph Wedekind/John McClarin lost to Ryle Gapitulan/Justin Tayler 6-1, 7-5
2nd Doubles — William Nelson/Joey Lippo beat Zach Smith/Chris Sevilla 6-2, 8-6
3rd Doubles — Grey Rische/Jared Helmstadter lost to Emmett Erickson/Nate Miller 3-6, 10-4, 9-8
4th Doubles — Connor McCormick/Jimmy Myers beat Kale Gonzalez/Connor Cottier 6-3, 10-8
JV:
Brian Shank/Aiden Crimmins beat John Bell/Gapitulan 7-5
“We only had time for one contest, but it was a good one!,” Stange said. “Brian and Aiden played really well, beating a team that featured half of Chimacum’s winning #1 doubles team!
“I was proud of their effort and hustle,” he added. “Brian was forceful with his racket. Aiden took the opposite approach, playing soft and smooth. Both were effective and they came out on top.”
Coupeville Sports 